Reddit Unlocks the Secret of Cryptic Subway Code

[MrsJrotax101]

Reddit user delverofsecrets posted photos of a cryptic note that he or she obtained from a “homeless looking man” on the 1 train in New York City. The user asked Reddit for help in identifying what the characters might mean, and the post quickly shot to the top of the front page as Redditors discussed and looked for clues.
“I bumped into a raggedy dressed man as we got on and he shot me a quick smile. I [thought] nothing of it until he went to get off at 14th street and he handed me a $50 bill along with a note. Before I could even open my mouth to ask him a question, he was gone,” delverofsecrets writes in the post. “I’ve been looking at the note all day, and needless to say, I have no idea what it means. It’s handwritten on a 3X3 square piece of paper with no identifying marks and no watermarks. There’s a handdrawn grid and at a couple spots, the cells of the grid are combined. The note has random character written throughout it and the bottom quarter is filled with random shapes and numbers.”
Within three hours, Redditors had identified some of the characters were written in Russian, Basque and Hebrew. Specifically, user SirSpam28 determined that the note referenced its own encryption, and that the “key” is something called a Bifid Cipher — a turn-of-the-century algorithm that would decode the secret message.

SirSpam28 (along with a handful of other armchair cryptologists) used the cipher to crack the text:

There’s plenty more money to make.
Figure this out and prepare to meet July 19th, 56th & 6th.
There’s a hot dog stand outside Rue57 cafe. Ask for Mr. Input.​

If you’re super creeped out by this, you’re not alone. Many Redditors in the thread are speculating. Perhaps it’s some sort of job interview. Perhaps a government spy game. Maybe it’s just a strange man playing tricks on unsuspecting subway riders.
Or maybe the joke will be on us when the entire Internet shows up at 56th and 6th next week to find it was all an elaborate marketing scheme. Mashable reached out to delverofsecrets for additional information. We will keep you informed as more details emerge.
More here: http://mashable.com/2012/07/11/reddit-subway-code/

 

[MrsJrotax101]

UPDATE: Reddit user delverofsecrets has edited his/her original post to include a private message from a user called 2220944379 who claims to be “Mr. Input” himself. It contained personally identifying information and a new code to crack:
“You may not believe me, but I will remind you of your personalized backpack [PERSONAL INFORMATION REDACTED]. You have recruited the help of friends, the offer is now on the table for them too. I cannot have strangers inquire about me, rather we will use a proxy. Here is the next step: DWY JLRR QUBPKSJ IL NDLM OQD OUCEQMW KGXI CSH RFRM XL WEZUXKJ. YME QLPRBAZ OQD TPVJG HPM UK CQJS H. PPVD BFSRST NJYT KR. BFPU EWP BMHY BTK WL VGB FXK R PXFE DTC GPBQL QWHKI JFA QRPE EJW EYC KLJ HCB JHGN.”

 

[MrsJrotax101]

UPDATE: Reddit user icedmilflopr seems to have deciphered the new code:

YOU HAVE MANAGED TO FIND THE MESSAGE WITH THE HELP OF FRIENDS. YOU CHANGED THE RULES NOW SO WILL I. JULY TWELVE FOUR PM. FIND THE BLUE JAY AT SIX AND A HALF AND FIFTY SIXTH AND TELL HIM YOU ARE THE LAST​

Also of note, Redditor new_b connected the numerical username of Mr. Input to an IP address located at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, a military base used for intelligence training.

 

[MrsJrotax101]

UPDATE: Delverofsecrets has updated his original post again: “I plan to be there today, and I figure that as long as its a public place, I should be safe. I have a date tonight around 6, so I wont be home until around 11. I’ll post any developments then.”

 

[siracergrl]

Is that what everyone on Reddit was talking about today? I've been so out of the loop

 

[MrsJrotax101]

UPDATE: Reddit user delverofsecrets arrived at the new meeting location at around 4:45 p.m. EST and was greeted by crowds anxious to get the full story. Read the full report.

 

[MrsJrotax101]

Reddit Code Rendezvous Reveals Few Answers, More Mystery

Around 150 people descended on the intersection of West 56th Street and 6 1/2 Avenue in New York City Thursday in the hopes of catching an exchange between two characters in a code-cracking drama that unfolded on Reddit last night.
Reddit user delverofsecrets claimed a “raggedy dressed man” handed him a cryptic code on the subway. Users of the social news site quickly decoded the message, revealing the location and time of a meeting for Thursday, July 19th.
Because of the publicity the story received, however, a new Reddit user claiming involvement sent delverofsecrets a private message with a new code, also quickly deciphered by Reddit:

YOU HAVE MANAGED TO FIND THE MESSAGE WITH THE HELP OF FRIENDS. YOU CHANGED THE RULES NOW SO WILL I. JULY TWELVE FOUR PM. FIND THE BLUE JAY AT SIX AND A HALF AND FIFTY SIXTH AND TELL HIM YOU ARE THE LAST​

Redditors on the scene at around 3:30 p.m. were anxious to find out if the episode was some sort of job interview, a government operation, or a beautifully executed marketing stunt. Many speculated that it was somehow tied to the forthcoming release of The Dark Knight Rises.
All the while, users remained glued to their smartphones, drilling down into the Reddit thread for an update from the original poster (the “OP”), and searching for clues on the scene — notably, the “blue jay” referenced in the second code.

SEE ALSO: Reddit Unlocks the Secret of Cryptic Subway Code



Right around the supposed meeting time of 4 p.m., an elderly man dressed in blue with a long scraggly beard passed by, and the crowd rushed him in the hope that he was “Mr. Input,” the originator of the first code. The man spoke unintelligibly, leading some to believe he was revealing more riddles or clues. But he said nothing substantial, and the crowd let him pass through.
Onlookers assumed the opportunity had come and gone. Nobody in the crowd confessed to being the OP.

Then, an update in the comments of the original thread at 4:16 p.m.:

“Op here, I’m hopping on the E now, I’ll be there in 10″​

The crowd waited feverishly for his arrival. By now, more people had accumulated, many unaware of the original Reddit thread. They simply wanted to know what all the commotion was about. “The Internet is here,” replied a number of onlookers. Police also arrived on the scene to keep an eye on the crowds.
About 30 minutes later, another update from delverofsecrets:

“Off subway getting there now wearing Yankees hat + messenger bag”​

The tension was palpable. Sure enough, a man bearing the description came down 56th Street, and the crowd pounced. Unfortunately, he had no idea what they were talking about. People were suspicious, but they let him off the hook, and he went inside a nearby building.
A few minutes later, the man of the hour arrived on the scene.

His name is Ali, and he arrived bearing the fabled encoded paper.
“I was expecting 10 people,” he told the crowd that encircled him and applauded when he revealed the original document. “The E Train takes a long time,” he explained to those wondering why he was so late.
Ali had seen pictures in the Reddit thread of the elderly man in blue; that, he said, was not the person who gave him the code in the subway. “He was clean shaven, about my height.”
Ali did not reveal his own last name, as he felt his privacy had been breached by some investigative Redditors who found his Facebook profile and phone number. “I’ve been getting a lot of creepy calls from people. ‘You’re a time traveler!’ ”
The OP said he was unsure the purpose of the code or whom he was intended to meet. “I do think it might be marketing,” Ali told Mashable. “What I can assure you is that I’m not in on it.”
It seems the fated meeting never took place, and police finally disbursed the crowd from the sidewalk. There is some speculation that the second message — sent privately to Ali containing personal details about the backpack he was wearing on the subway — was from someone he already knew. Someone attempting to play a trick on him.
Interestingly, Ali said that Redditor’s username was his own phone number backwards.
If this is the case, the second message could be a hoax, and the original meeting date of July 19 is still on.

Stick with Mashable for the full video interview of Ali and continuing coverage of the mystery as it unfolds.

Article from: http://mashable.com/2012/07/12/reddit-secret-code-op-revealed/

 

[KennyGS]

some people have lots of time

 

[Nomar06]

seems pretty cool....

 

[MrsJrotax101]

I'm really kinda curious now if it's some big marketing ploy or what

 

[webby]

marketing

 

[MrsJrotax101]

UPDATE 5: Delverofsecrets has deleted his Reddit account and updated the original post after receiving threatening phone calls. He writes that he does not plan to follow through with the meeting on July 19.

 

[MrsJrotax101]

Reddit Code Poster Deletes Account Amid Threats

The user who asked Reddit to help him decode an encrypted message has deleted his account after receiving threatening messages and phone calls. At 10:38 a.m. ET, Reddit user delverofsecrets deleted the original content of his thread and replaced it with an update:

“EDIT AS OF 10:38am 7/13 Received a phone call today threatening violence against me and my family, going so far as to name members of my family and their addresses, unless I delete this post. The caller also told me not to show up on the 19th and to inform anyone planning to show up on the 19th that nothing would happen. This will be my last message from this account before I delete it. I’ll also be changing my number later today. I am sorry if a resolution to this never happens, but I’m not willing to risk my family’s safety for a few extra dollars.”​

Delverofsecrets, who told Mashable his real name is Ali, arrived for a potential meeting with someone many assumed was the mastermind behind the coded note. He arrived on the scene where Redditors and other Internet watchers greeted him to get the full scoop. On the street, he explained how Reddit had dug up many of his personal details, including his Facebook profile and phone number. He was receiving calls from unknown sources even as we spoke.

SEE ALSO: Reddit Code Rendezvous Reveals Few Answers, More Mystery



Posting personally identifying information of any kind to Reddit is a violation of the site’s rules, and moderators work actively to remove such content. “As far as we can tell, nothing was reported to the moderators or to us (admins),” Erik Martin, Reddit’s general manager, tells Mashable in an email. “There’s some stuff about a phone number possibly being used as a username backwards, but we did not get any actual reports about it from any users as far as we know. We’ve removed direct references to a specific phone number and to a first name (Ali) which may be related. If anyone has any information about any reddit users that may have been involved in the harassment, we will investigate fully.”
As of this writing, the delverofsecrets account has been deleted. The original thread and all its comments remains, but the details of the original /r/AskReddit post have been edited out.

Article from: http://mashable.com/2012/07/13/reddit-code-deletes-account/

 

[hotshot]

What a vagina....